Crocodile rescued from 40-ft deep Gir well

Junagadh, April 19 Rescuing animals from different parapetless wells in the Gir forest is nothing new for forest officials. But their latest rescue operation was different in a way as it involved a reptile.

On Thursday evening, foresters saved a full-grown crocodile, which fell into a 40-feet deep parapetless well on the outskirts of Sanvav village in Una taluka of Junagadh. Some locals spotted a six-foot long crocodile trapped in a well located in an agriculture land owned by a farmer, Deva Babar, and informed forest officials.

Deputy Conservator of Forest (Gir east) J S Solanki, along with a rescue team from near Jashadhar forest range, rushed to the spot as soon as they received the information. After rescuing the crocodile unhurt, they released it in the nearby Raval dam.

According to Solanki, it was the first incident wherein a reptile was rescued from a well in the recent past.

Hitherto, they had rescued lions, leopards and some herbivores. Animals continue to fall inside such wells in the forest, even though farmers have been asked to cover them. The Forest department and a few NGOs have also been working in this direction.